I Dreamt of New Math
An incalculable word problem
As I sat in my advanced mathematics class, preparing to learn the new math that was supposed to arm me with incalculable tools for our rapidly changing world, a procession of musical theatre students paraded into the class singing joyful tunes that rattled the windows and my soul.
(Wait, I’m describing a dream event of higher learning, so my language should be more precise. What is a more accurate plurality for stage nerds? Is it troupe? No, troupes are for traveling professional acts and baboons. Ensemble? Yeah, that feels right. Let’s go with ensemble)
I counted and catalogued the songs sung by the ensemble — a jaunty ditty from The Lion King, a bombastic number from The Wiz, Hamilton’s wonderful … well who am I kidding; all of Hamilton is wonderful — and I closed my eyes, my head bobbing in time with the melody.
Upon opening my eyes, the music had stopped, with the ensemble now seated in class facing the window, bathed in sunlight. I, and a about a half-dozen non-musical students, now very much in the minority, faced the opposite direction; a black, empty chalkboard, with a mildly disappointed teacher mocking us for failing to be attentive to the lesson.
She dismissed the class before I could raise a what or a when or a why, and the class began stacking…
